A North Carolina state senator on Wednesday blasted fellow lawmakers for attaching draconian anti-abortion provisions to an anti-Sharia law bill and insisted that “the North Carolina Republican General Assembly” is “what we have to fear.”

In a floor speech on Wednesday, state Sen. Josh Stein (D) said that “the irony” about the anti-abortion measures in the anti-Sharia bill is that all but one clinic could be closed, causing more unintended pregnancies because women would not have access to birth control and family planning.

“Furthermore, you shut them down and women are still going to want to have abortions,” he continued. “We as a state and a nation have been there in the ’60s and ’70s, we know what the consequences are. Please, let us not go back to those days.”

“The irony that you all attached these anti-abortion provisions on the anti-Sharia law is really astounding,” Stein pointed out. “That’s what this bill says, it’s about some foreign law, anti-Sharia law. There’s not a single instance of anything like that appearing in the North Carolina courts. And yet, you’re playing to people’s base fears by promoting this.

“When we don’t have anything to fear from the Sharia types, what we have to fear is from the North Carolina General Assembly Republican Senate impinging on people’s fundamental constitutional rights.”

About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.